ELDORA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman convicted on charges related to confining her boyfriend’s 8-year-old son under basement stairs has been sentenced to jail and a small fine.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Traci Lynn Tyler was sentenced Friday to up to a year in jail, following her April 10 conviction of misdemeanor false imprisonment. She had been charged with kidnapping but a judge convicted her of the lesser charge.

Prosecutors say Tyler and the boy’s father, Alex Shadlow, locked the child in a space beneath the basement stairs of their Ackley home for at least nine hours a day in summer 2017. The boy told authorities he slept on concrete.

Because Tyler served 266 days in jail before her conviction, she may only serve another three months. That time could be reduced for good behavior. She was fined $315. Shadlow is awaiting trial.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Efforts to end the Iowa legislative session have been delayed by a last-minute amendment from conservative Republicans who are seeking to prohibit the use of Medicaid funding to pay for sex-reassignment surgery.

Backers of the Friday afternoon amendment to a Health and Human Services funding bill say the prohibition on using federal or state money for sex reassignment surgery is a response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision. The ruling last month said the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for such a surgery.

Republican Sen. Jake Chapman says his constituents believe “this is an elective surgery that if Iowans want to do, that’s fine but not with our taxpayer dollars.”

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen called the amendment a mean-spirited attempt at discrimination. By raising the issue so late, she says Republicans prevented Democrats from amending the proposal.

The measure also would prohibit government money from paying for sex education programs by Planned Parenthood.

The Senate passed the bill 31-19. The bill was to be heard in the House later.

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo report FEMA will be opening disaster recovery centers for people to apply for assistance in Shelby county. They will be in Harlan at the Harlan Fire Department located at 906 Cyclone Ave on Monday April 29 thru Wednesday May 1st. The hours will be Monday 12pm to 7pm and 9am to 7pm Tuesday and Wednesday.

FEMA representatives will in Shelby at the Community building located at 500 East St on Thursday May 2nd thru Saturday May 4th. Hours of operation are Thursday 12pm to 7pm and 9am to 7pm Friday and Saturday.

FEMA personnel will then follow the same schedule the following week at both locations. There is no need to set up an appointment, just come in and register.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report the arrest at around 12:25-a.m. Thursday, of a Council Bluffs man and woman. 38-year old Bryan James Regenscheid was arrested in the area of 221st St. and Highway 34, on two counts Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at  $2,600. At the same place and time, 27-year old Angel Marie Shlee was arrested for Forgery and Theft in the 5th degree. Her bond was set at $5,300.

Wednesday night, 30-year old Amanda Corine Elrod, of Glenwood, was arrested at 6th and N. Vine Streets in Glenwood, for Driving Under Suspension and having No SR-22 Insurance. Bond was set at 1,300.

One person was transported by Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, following an accident early this (Friday) afternoon at 8th and Walnut Streets, in Atlantic. The collision happened at around 12:45-p.m.  Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson said an initial investigation determined a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle was traveling southbound on Walnut Street and approaching the intersection. A yellow passenger car was traveling west on 8th Street. Erickson said it appears the female driver of the car failed to yield.

Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson on the scene of a motorcycle/car accident (Ric Hanson/photo)

The driver of the cycle tried to avoid the collision and laid the cycle in its side. In the process, the bike apparently clipped the rear passenger side of the car. The male driver of the motorcycle suffered minor injuries. Erickson said “It’s the season people need to watch out for motorcycles, because there’s sand out there and everything else. It’s just not a good thing.” And, with the nice weather, “Kids will be out on their bicycles too, so people just need to be more aware so that nobody ends up being killed.”

The names of the motorcycle and car driver were not immediately released.

Click to enlarge the image

Gene Gettys, Harlan City Administrator, has announced that effective this (Friday afternoon), Industrial Parkway in Harlan will be closed for repair. This is the roadway that runs between Concerned, Inc and Van Diest Supply. The road is expected to be closed up to a week while repairs are completed. They apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

A reminder: Area law enforcement agencies in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), are offering you a chance to drop-off your unwanted, expired or other prescription medications, no questions asked, free of charge, Saturday, April 27^th, from 10-a.m. Until 2-p.m. The Prescription Drug Take Back Day is designed to reduce the availability of prescription drugs to prevent pill abuse, misuse and theft, by ridding homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Simply bring your pills for disposal to one of several area drop-off sites.

Only pills or patches will be accepted. No liquids, needles or sharps. Here’s a partial list of drop-off sites:

• Atlantic: The Atlantic Police Department (In the lobby), and the drop-off site at Walmart.
• The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
• Council Bluffs Police Department – Walgreens drop-off site.
• Harrison County Sheriff’s Office (in the lobby).
• Glenwood Police Department – Hy-Vee Pharmacy in Glenwood.
• The Fremont County Sheriff’s located at 2814 200th Street, in Sidney
• Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office – at the Sheriff’s Office in Mt. Ayr.

For a list of prescription drug drop-off sites near you, go to: https://takebackday.dea.gov/ or www.DEATakeBack.com.

Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 460 tons of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and almost 4,800 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 16 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in almost 11 million pounds of pills.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A bill approved by the Legislature and awaiting the governor’s signature would forbid Iowa’s public universities from banning stun guns on campus. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that bill advocate Rep. Matt Windschitl says the proposed measure comes in response to some schools in Iowa prohibiting stun guns on their campuses. The campus bans go against a bill approved in 2017 that permitted people over the age of 18 to be allowed to carry stun guns.

A worried father collaborated with his local senator to draft the bill proposal after realizing his daughters wouldn’t have the option of carrying a stun gun on campus. Windschitl added the bill would help avert sexual violence and keep students safe. Critics say they disagree that the bill would reduce sexual violence.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a statue of Iowa State University’s first black student-athlete will be moved back to the central campus in Ames, away from the stadium named after him.
A university news release said Friday that the statue of Jack Trice must be moved because of construction of what will be called the Sports Performance Center. When the construction relocation issue arose, a university committee concluded it was time to permanently return the statue to central campus.

The statue stood between Beardshear and Carver halls from 1988 to 1997. It’s been situated at the stadium since it was named for him in 1997. The new location will be between Beardshear Hall and the Hub, a high traffic area. Trice died from internal bleeding two days after being injured on Oct. 6, 1923, in the game against the University of Minnesota.

DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — A northeast Iowa sheriff is being praised and criticized for posting a religious Easter greeting on the department’s Facebook page. Sunday’s post remained on the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office page Friday morning, and Sheriff Dan Marx told the Mason City Globe Gazette he doesn’t intend to remove it. The post includes the words “He is risen” imposed over a photo showing a cross on the crest of a hill being illuminated from behind by the sun. To its right is a message: “Happy Easter from all of us at the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office.”

ACLU of Iowa executive director Mark Stringer says the post on the department’s official Facebook page “is grossly inappropriate under our traditions of religious freedom enshrined” in the Iowa and U.S. constitutions. Several people posted comments in praise of the sheriff’s action, while others said the Christian post had no business being on the department’s page.